12 days of giveaways - Day 3

What gifts will the fossil fuel industry receive this year courtesy of the American Taxpayer? Find out in our ongoing 12 days of Giveaways holiday guide to the gifts we give to Big Oil, Big Gas, and King Coal.

On the third day of fossil fuel giveaways we gave the oil, gas and coal industry...

Expensing of Exploration and Development Costs for Coal companies - Cost: $413 million

This tax break allows coal companies to immediately write off any costs related to finding and developing new mines. Accelerating this business expense accelerates coal industry profits at the expense of less-favored businesses which are required to expense their development costs over longer periods of time.